The Chatham coot (''Fulica chathamensis''), also known as the Chatham Island coot, is an
extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
in the rail
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
,
Rallidae
The rails, or Rallidae, are a large cosmopolitan family of small- to medium-sized, ground-living birds. The family exhibits considerable diversity and includes the crakes, coots, and gallinules. Many species are associated with wetlands, althoug ...
, that was
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
to the
Chatham Islands
The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...
of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. It was described from
subfossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...
bones in 1892 by Scottish explorer, ornithologist and botanist
Henry Forbes, who was director of the
Canterbury Museum in Christchurch at the time.
[
]
Taxonomy
The Chatham coot and the related New Zealand coot (''F. prisca'') are classified as coots on the basis of anatomical features of the pelvis
The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton).
The ...
and humerus
The humerus (; ) is a long bone in the arm that runs from the shoulder to the elbow. It connects the scapula and the two bones of the lower arm, the radius and ulna, and consists of three sections. The humeral upper extremity consists of a roun ...
typical of the genus. There has been disagreement regarding the relationship between the two species. They have variously been considered full species, subspecies or lacking in taxonomic distinction. At one point a new genus, ''Nesophalaris'', was proposed for them. A review by Trevor Worthy
Trevor Henry Worthy (born 3 January 1957) is an Australia-based paleozoologist from New Zealand, known for his research on moa and other extinct vertebrates.
Biography
Worthy grew up in Broadwood, Northland, and went to Whangarei Boys' High S ...
and Richard Holdaway in 2002 recommended that the two coots be treated as separate species.[
]
Description
Remains of the coot were first found by Forbes in dune deposits on Chatham Island
Chatham Island ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) is by far the largest island of the Chatham Islands group, in the south Pacific Ocean off the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island. It is said to be "halfway bet ...
in 1892, since when much further material has been recovered from dunes and from Moriori
The Moriori are the native Polynesian people of the Chatham Islands (''Rēkohu'' in Moriori; ' in Māori), New Zealand. Moriori originated from Māori settlers from the New Zealand mainland around 1500 CE. This was near the time of the ...
midden
A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...
s on the island. It was a large coot, slightly larger than the New Zealand coot, some 40 cm in length and 1.9 kg in weight. Apart from a disproportionately long neck, and long legs and toes, it was similar in shape to other coots and was probably able to fly. Its large salt glands
The salt gland is an organ for excreting excess salts. It is found in the cartilaginous fishes subclass elasmobranchii (sharks, rays, and skates), seabirds, and some reptiles. Salt glands can be found in the rectum of sharks. Birds and reptiles ...
indicate that it inhabited the brackish waters of Te Whanga Lagoon
Te Whanga Lagoon dominates the geography of Chatham Island, in the South Pacific Ocean off New Zealand's east coast. It covers .
It is the outflow of several small rivers in the island's hilly south, and drains to the Pacific via gaps in Hanson ...
. The common occurrence of its bones in middens show that it was a frequent food item, with over-hunting
Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/ antler ...
the main cause of its extinction.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15707885
Fulica (genus)
Birds described in 1892
Fossil taxa described in 1892
Extinct birds of the Chatham Islands
Holocene extinctions